There has been an increasing interest in developing automated devices to facilitate the mobility of people who have difficulty walking. Although various forms of wheelchairs have helped considerably, their users face many obstacles, such as getting in and out of vehicles like vans and buses. Wheelchair ramps are used to assist in the loading and unloading of passengers from vans, buses and other such vehicles. However, available ramps are often bulky and cumbersome. When bulky ramps are installed in vehicles, the components of the vehicle must be rearranged to accommodate the sizable ramps. For example, one known fold-over style ramp is typically 48 inches long. This length is needed in order to create a slope angle that can be traversed in a wheelchair. When stored, the known fold-over ramp requires a space of at least 48 inches on a bus. This presents a problems for a bus builder in that a typical low floor bus has a main structural member that sits approximately 35 inches in from the side edge of the bus. Thus, in order to accommodate a 48 inch ramp, the chassis rail of the bus must be partially cut to receive the ramp. Furthermore, the fare box may have to be repositioned to accommodate the ramp. In some buses, passenger seats are removed to allow additional room for the housing and operation of the ramps. Consequently, there is a need for new passenger ramps that are compact and capable of being installed in a vehicle without requiring the components of the vehicle to be rearranged. Yet, the ramp must be large enough and sufficiently durable to support the combined weight of a wheelchair and a person thereon during the loading and unloading process.